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By Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt Bryant The gun violence issue most keenly affects black men in America. While black males are 6 percent of the United States population, they constitute 48 percent of the homicide victims who die by firearms in our nation. On average, about 4,900 black males are killed with guns every single year. Between 2000 and 2010, 53,850 black males died by firearms in America. Between now and 2025, if we don’t act,... |
News
by Ron Walker, COSEBOC Executive Director
March 7, 2013
During a recent site visit to our Mississippi Leadership Academy, I had the good fortune of meeting 5 year Kaiden Johnson in Biloxi, Mississippi. He is a student at the Early Learning Center directed by Mrs. Eula Crowell, a dedicated champion for poor and underserved families and their children. On a financial shoestring, Mrs. Crowell and her able staff produce young scholars between the ages of 4 and 5 who leave her center ready, willing and able to read. In fact she...
by Ron Walker
Feb 4, 2013
Why are we mute? This was the powerful essential question that Harry Belafonte asked as he received the prestigious Spingarn Award at the NAACP’s recent Image Award ceremonies. Further, he asked the listening audience, where are our leaders? where are our legislators? where our churches?
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by Ron Walker
Executive Director, COSEBOC
Imagine with me for a minute that every high school graduating class from this point forward has all young men of color exceptionally prepared to carry and shape society’s mantle. These graduates would exemplify what it means to be literate in the 21st century, taking their rightful place in local, national, and global communities. We would then say, "There goes our Young, Gifted and Literate.”The Young, Gifted and Literate graduate reads and writes well across a wide range of disciplines; speaks eloquently with passion and conviction;...
by Rory T. Edwards, CEO
Professional Athlete Wellness Group
In the past week we have been exposed to yet two more tragic incidents in the world of professional sports. There was the murder suicide in the Kansas Chiefs organization and the DWI vehicular homicide involving two Dallas Cowboy teammates and friends. Most all would agree that these incidents continue to mount and are almost becoming ‘the new normal’ in regards to the actions and activities of aspiring, as well as accomplished professional athletes.
And let us not forget the torrent of sexual and physical...
by Murph Shapiro, COSEBOC
December 7, 2012
I’ve just finished three different pieces that include lists of successful practices of inner city schools.
The first is a book, Sweating the Small Stuff by David Whitman in which Whitman describes 6 schools ( 4 charters; a parochial high school; and a neighborhood public high school) that have narrowed the achievement gap and produced graduates who go off to college.
The book was written in 2008 and is...
I've always been a bit wary of bringing the street into the classroom; not because I thought it was a bad idea to use outside experiences to raise student interest but rather because it is too often simplisticly implemented.
Back in 1969 I was a reading teacher at an experimental school in Philadelphia and I hit upon the idea of a theme based program around boxing. All the kids seemed excited about the idea so I gathered books and articles at different reading levels about boxers and boxing, and offered them to the kids in lieu of the usual reading curriculum...
(Re) Authorizing Literacy Practices for African American Boys
by Alfred W. Tatum, Ph.D.
University of Illinois at Chicago
The education of young children has been discussed for more than two centuries in the United States. However, we are in our infancy discussing instructional practices and methods that advance the reading and writing achievement of African American boys. This is not to say that African American boys have not been excelling at both for a very long time, but the voices of those who specifically advocate for their reading and...
Recently a three day symposium Middle School Matters for Young Black Males sponsored by ETS and the Children's Defense Fund was held in Cincinatti Ohio. In general the speakers were academics from the college level and while their comments and presentations were excellent, they were more more theoretical than practical.
One of the panelists, Geoffrey Canada, Head of the Harlem Children's Zone, however, provided more hands on responses to some of the moderator's questions.
Canada feels that we address the needs of young Black children, and particularly those of high school age...
In a speech last March Ivory Toldson expressed in the most direct terms what many others have been saying but have not been heard, or at least not getting out to the public. Here's an excerpt from an article on the speech.
Toldston (sic) said the media’s constant negative — and in many cases, inaccurate — portrayal of black men leads to a vicious cycle that essentially serves to limit black men by sending them a message that they aren’t expected to succeed.
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